Temple of Shadows
by AlexSnape-36
Summary: When Severus pursues deatheaters deep into the forbidden forest, he stumbles across a strange temple that offers to grant him his heart's desire. For a price. Identify and recover what Bellatrix Lestrange stole from them before time runs out. The temple, however, made a mistake in what his heart's desire was, because it was certainly not this infuriating woman. Was it?
1. Trespassers

A/N: I have not written fanfiction in quite a while, so if this story ends up being subpar, I apologize in advance. However, I would love to read any reviews and hear what you think of it!

Chapter 1: Trespassers

Hagrid jolted awake as Fang leapt at the door to his hut, growling and barking.

"Fang! What are you going on about?" Hagrid asks gruffly. He had only been asleep for a few hours, and he had classes to teach tomorrow. He hoped Fang had a good reason for pitching such a fit. He shuffled towards the door and looked out the window as Fang leapt towards the door again. Hagrid squinted his eyes against the darkness. There was a figure in a black hooded cloak staring up at the castle. Hagrid froze, his eyes widening. It was too tall to be a student. Hagrid hoped it was Professor Snape out for a late night walk again. He couldn't imagine who else it would be, but he didn't have a good feeling about it. The figure turned slowly, as though it could feel it was being watched, and a silver deatheater's mask glinted beneath the light of the moon.

Hagrid grabbed his wand and threw open the door. Fang went into a frenzy, snarling and barking as he leapt towards the deatheater. Hagrid lifted his wand and pointed it towards the castle. "Expecto patronum!" A large silvery hippogriff leapt from the tip of his wand just as two other deatheaters appeared. "Go!" Hagrid shouted at it, "Find the headmistress!"

.

Severus ran through the forbidden forest, a glowing orb keeping up with him just overhead, to light his way and help him keep his movements quick and nimble. Despite that, they still somehow managed to stay ahead of him, dodging his spells and avoiding the toppled trees and thorny bushes that should have slowed them down. Minerva and Hagrid had already given up the chase, Severus assumed, since they had fallen so far behind. Severus could still see the deatheaters just up ahead, though, and he wasn't about to let them escape. Deatheaters would only be present on Hogwarts grounds for one reason, to exact some sort of revenge against him for betraying the Dark Lord. One way or another this would be over before the sun rose. He had not fought so hard to survive and earn his freedom only to be stalked by idiots from his past now.

Severus hesitated as they vanished for a moment behind some larger brush. An odd, tingling sensation suddenly came over him and he moved forward with much more caution than he had before. He stepped out into a clearing and his eyes widened in surprise. Every time he thought he had discovered all of the secrets Hogwarts harbored, the grounds somehow managed to continue to surprise him. Standing before him, hidden by bramble and overgrown vines, was a temple made of white marble. A large set of crumbling steps lead up to a door that had been shattered into broken pieces of black stone. Movement caught his eye as the tail of one of their cloaks vanished inside. Had this always been here? How had it remained hidden for so long? And why would the deatheater's choose to hide here when they could have chosen somewhere much more discreet? There could only be one of two answers to that one. Either they had tired of running and had chosen this place to make their stand, or they were somehow familiar with this place and knew of some alternate escape route. Either way, if he wanted to pursue them and ensure they didn't return, he would have to go inside. Severus made his way up the steps slowly, clenching his wand in his hand. When he was just outside of the entrance, he paused, trying to determine exactly what the nature of this place was before he took that final step.

"Is the poor traitor frightened of the big scary temple?" A female voice cooed, sending a chill down Severus' spine. That voice could only belong to one person.

"I see you've somehow managed to hold on to that soul for a bit longer, Bella." Severus answers, stepping into the room. The last he had heard from her, she had been sentenced to the dementor's kiss.

White marble pillars with black veins lined a path towards a large solid stone table. An alter of some sort, Severus realized. Severus turned on his heel and backed up towards it as he realized Bella and the other two deatheaters had been standing just beyond his line of sight next to the door. They were taking a stand, then, and he was certainly outnumbered.

"Oh, no. I gifted that old thing to the Dark Lord ages ago." Bella chirps happily.

"And who are your two lap dogs this time?" Severus raised an eyebrow. Even if he didn't manage to capture them, the more he could tell Minerva about them later, the better off he would be.

"Oh, don't you worry about that. You won't live long enough for it to matter." Bella grins, lifting her wand towards him.

He dodged a flash of bright green light , leaping up onto the alter. The light hit the stone , shattering the corner into pieces. The other two took that as their signal to move in, and Severus found himself playing defense against all three of them faster than he could return fire against Bellatrix. Faster than he could return fire against any of them. Damn Minerva for giving up the chase so quickly. Severus was starting to see that he had underestimated his enemy. He was in over his head, and if he kept taking the defensive it wouldn't be long before he wasn't fast enough to reflect one of their spells. He took a risk and let the protective barrier he had built up around himself slip for a moment. Instead, he sent a flash of blue light towards the deatheater on Bella's left. It caught him off guard and Bella shrieked angrily as Severus' spell sent him flying across the room. The deatheater hit the ground hard and began shaking uncontrollably. One down, two to go.

Before he could pull his defenses back up, Bella's slicing hex slashed through his arm, leaving a deep gash. Severus gritted his teeth through the pain and dodged an attack from the other deatheater while making an x in the air with his wand and snarling, "Sectumsempra!" A small flash of white light erupted from the tip of his wand, headed straight for Bella's heart. The other deatheater sent a bright flash of green light towards Severus. Severus dodge the killing curse again, only to be hit in the chest with his own curse as Bellatrix reflected it back at him.

Severus fell to his knees on the alter, his eyes glazing over as blood soaked his robes. His wand fell from his hand and he fell back onto the stone as a low rumbling began to fill the temple. Bella's eyes widened as the earth began to tremble beneath their feet.

"The temple is going to collapse," Bella laughs, backing up towards the exit.

"What about him?" The other deatheater asks, levitating his friend into the air. The seizure severus had put him in had subsided some, but not enough that he would be able to walk on his own.

"Leave him," Bellatrix smiles sweetly. "Hopefully he will live long enough to be buried alive beneath the rubble. Darkness is a fitting end for a traitor. Besides, we already have what we came for." Bella shooed him out as a crack shot through the back wall of the temple, leaving Severus to die alone.


	2. The Quest

Chapter 2: The Guardian

Severus was looking down at his own body. Blood was beginning to pool around it, but in a very unusual way. Although the surface of the stone appeared smooth, as his blood flowed out onto it, it did so in intricate patterns. There was so much of it.

He looked down at his hands. Is this what it was like after death? Why was he still here in this temple? Shouldn't there have been some sort of bright, shining light? He felt a stinging bitterness at the thought of having survived so much only to be brought down by Bellatrix in the end. He looked back at the alter. As his blood reached each corner of the alter, the rumbling and shaking came to an abrupt stop and the temple slowly darkened. Suddenly, there was a figure standing across from him. A dark skinned man with dreadlocks and glowing violet eyes.

"Am I dead?" Severus demands defensively, glaring daggers at him.

"Do you want to be?" The man asks solomnly.

"Who are you?" Severus demands.

"I am Rigel. Guardian of The Temple of the Rose. I will honor your sacrifice. I see your heart's greatest desire . I will grant it to you, Severus. For a price."

"My heart's desire?" Severus repeats. "What is the price?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange has stolen something very valuable to us. We will heal your wounds and you will retrieve what Bellatrix has stolen. You have one week to complete your quest. In exchange, we will grant you the one thing you desire most. If you do not do as we ask, we will grant you nothing. Your sacrifice will have been for nothing." Rigel threatens.

The only thing Severus truly wanted was to live out his life in peace. He was pissed off enough at Bellatrix at the moment to be more than willing to sacrifice her in order to get it. "What did she take?"

"That is for you to discover on your own." Merrick smiled in a way that made Severus' stomach curl. "Do we have an agreement?"

"We do." Severus agrees. He wasn't sure whether this was real, but Bellatrix's attack against him had been. He would go after her. If he happened to find something she had stolen in the process, he would happily return it simply to spite her. Being rid of her would bring more than enough peace of mind to him.

A sharp pain shot through his chest as he was pulled back into his body.


	3. Silence

Chapter 3: Silence

Severus woke up on the alter and clutched his chest, expecting to be overwhelmed by the pain. After a moment, when the pain didn't come, he pulled his hand away. There was no blood. Not on him, and not on the alter. His robes were even mended. If they had ever been shredded to begin with. It was not possible for him to have recovered from that curse so quickly. He would know. He had created it. He sat up and brushed the hair back from his face, struggling to remember what had happened before the man had appeared before him. He had chased three deatheaters here. One of them had been Bellatrix. He had thought she had managed to reflect his Sectumsempra curse back at him. Perhaps she had hit him with something else though. Something that had made him imagine he had been dying. Or, perhaps, something that had simply knocked him unconscious. He would not be surprised if a place like this had given him an odd dream. Either way, he was alone now. A dim light peeked through the crumbling entrance. Severus could tell that it was almost dawn. He had spent the night here. Had Minerva not even been concerned enough for him to send someone to find him? Severus cursed under his breath. If he hurried, he could make it back to the castle in time to shower before the classes he had to teach this morning. He strode to the door and took flight the moment he stepped outside. He couldn't wait to wash away the remnants of last night from his skin. It had been too close of a call for him.

A few hours later, Severus found himself glaring out over the heads of fourth year Gryffindors and Slytherins. They had been particularly annoying today. He had already taken thirty points from Gryffindor and five points from his own house. He was in no mood to tolerate this sort of behavior. He had barely tolerated Minerva's bombardment of questions that she had chosen to ambush him with the moment he had sat down for breakfast this morning.

"Maybe Snape is having an affair with one of the deatheaters and that's why he was missing all night." Meredith Bromilly suggested. She was a Gryffindor whose arrogance could have rivaled Potter's.

"Detention for a month and fifty points from Gryffindor, Miss Bromilly." Severus says, his calm voice dripping with poison. He didn't even have to raise his voice for the entire room to freeze at his words. A couple of the Slytherins snickered, but Severus chose to ignore them. They all knew she had crossed a line. Severus himself smirked at the indignant look on her face.

"You can't do that!" She objects angrily.

"Oh, I believe you will find it to be well within my rights, Miss Bromilly. As a matter of fact, ten more points from Gryffindor for continuing to disrespect a professor." Severus lifted an eyebrow at her, daring her to say something else.

She opened her mouth to speak, but a ringing had started in Severus' ears and was quickly getting louder. He could see her lips moving, but he couldn't hear her. Severus frowned. Another student was speaking now, but he couldn't hear him either.

"Class dismissed," he said, but quickly snapped his mouth shut again when he realized he couldnt even hear his own voice.

The students scrambled to collect their things, but Severus couldn't focus on them. The air around him began to shimmer. Within moments his vision had blurred to the point that he couldn't see anything other than color. His heart was racing. Had whatever Bellatrix hit him with had some sort of lingering effect on him? If he could have heard them, he might have heard the students who hadn't yet left the room gasp in shock. Severus Snape had vanished right before their eyes.


	4. The Key

Chapter 4: The Key

When his vision cleared, his classroom had been replaced by Diagon Alley. He narrowed his eyes. What he was seeing wasn't possible. There was no apparating within Hogwarts grounds, and he had not stepped out of a fireplace to get here. He was not even inside a building. Something was horribly wrong about all of this. The normally bustling street felt malevolent somehow, and was mostly abandoned except for the odd few who were hurrying to reach their destinations. The sky was overcast and threatening rain. He was about to apparate back to the gates of Hogwarts when a snippet of conversation caught his attention. A woman was questioned in regards to today's date, and her response was July 2nd. Surely they were mistaken. That was four months ago, and although he owned a timeturner, he did not have it on him at the moment. A familiar voice caught his attention and his head snapped towards the source of it. Two figures were striding down the other side of the street, heading towards Knockturn Alley.

"I told you not to bother me in public, Wormtail! I do not wish to be seen with you." A woman, the taller of the two, hissed. They were both dressed in dark, hooded cloaks that made it difficult for Severus to see their faces. He had no doubt, though, that it was Bellatrix hidden beneath that cloak, and he only knew one person who went by the name Wormtail.

"But, Mistress, you told me to tell you immediately when there was any news of the temple." Wormtail objects, scurrying after her.

Severus waited until they had passed him before casting a disillusionment charm on himself and crossing the street to trail after them. He was close enough to hear them, but far enough back that they wouldn't notice him.

Bellatrix shushed Wormtail. "Keep your voice down before I silence you permanently. We cannot discuss this here." She led Wormtail down into Knockturn Alley and Severus slipped through the door behind them when they entered Borgin and Burkes. Two others in identical cloaks seemed to be waiting for them there. Severus slid behind a large cabinet. He couldn't see them without peeking around it, but he could still hear them. "Now, Wormtail, tell us. What news have you about the temple?" Bellatrix asks impatiently.

"Rumor has it that the temple has chosen a new home. It is no longer in Bulgaria." Wormtail says excitedly. He seemed to pause for dramatic effect and Severus rolled his eyes.

Bellatrix wasn't having any of it either. "Well? Where is it?" She snaps at him.

"There are whispers of it relocating somewhere within the mountains of Scotland." Wormtail says gleefully.

"Hogwarts," Bellatrix hisses in disgust. "Of course it would choose that place in search of someone 'worthy'."

Severus frowned. A temple that moved on its own in search of someone worthy? Worthy of what exactly? The deatheaters fell silent as Mr. Borgin emerged from the back. Severus peeked around the corner at him against his better judgment. He was carrying a small, dark blue velvet box. "I believe I have found what you have been searching for." He greets them. They had obviously been in here before.

"Show me," Bellatrix demands gleefully.

"This had better be worth it, Bellatrix." One of the other deatheaters threatened.

"Or what? You'll Crucio me?" Bellatrix giggles as Mr. Borgin opened the box for her. He could see her shoulders stiffen as she reached out a hand. "The Key of Talisvita."

Mr. Borgin snapped the lid shut before she could touch it. "There is a price for everything, Mrs. Lestrange, and this was quite difficult to get my hands on."

"How much?" Bellatrix demands. Severus could tell by her tone of voice that she wasn't leaving here without it, even if she had to kill him for it.

"I will take no less than one hundred galleons for it." He answers firmly.

"You will take fifty galleons, eleven sickles, two knuts, and the gratitude you will feel when I walk out of here without killing you." Bellatrix counters sweetly.

Borgin swallowed hard. He didn't want to hand the box over for that little, but he knew Bellatrix was serious. He nodded reluctantly. "That will be agreeable, Mrs. Lestrange."

Bellatrix tossed a small sack of coins on the counter. The other two deatheaters did as well, and Borgin handed Bellatrix the box. She opened it again, this time taking out a long silver chain. A large black key hung from the other end of it, embellished with a white rose that seemed to be made from anandalite, considering the prism of colors it created even in the dim light of this room.

"We are so close." Bellatrix whispered, and Severus shuddered. He had never seen her that serious before. Whatever it was she was after, he couldn't let her have it. If she wanted it that badly, Severus could only imagine the amount of damage it would wreck on the wizarding world.

If that was the key she used to steal from the temple, all he had to do was take it from her. Bellatrix exited the shop with her box, and the three others followed close behind. Severus was about to step out of his corner, but ended up stumbling forward instead, clutching his head when the ringing in his ears started again. No. He wasn't ready.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Dumbledore's bitch." Borgin smirked ar him. He was cross from his transaction with Bellatrix and he looked at Severus as though someone had just given him a punching bag. His spell must have fallen. From him somehow. Before he could raise his wand to defend himself, his vision clouded over and he vanished from knockturn alley.


	5. Aramis

Also four months ago, in a far away land that almost everyone has forgotten except for the people who live there...

The Castle of Aramis shone blue under the light of the moon. As late as it was, lights still flickered through a few of the windows and Nox could see movement inside from his vantage point in the brush at the edge of the woods. The Wraith Queen always kept odd hours. And odd company. She was the darker side of Fae kind. He knew Queen Hadria still searched for the lost princess. The last heir of Kavinli, who could pose a threat to her throne. Most had already given up hope, assuming the princess was just a myth, or that the queen had killed her when she had slaughtered the rest of the royal family. Nox knew better, though. He knew where the lost princess was at this very moment-wrapped up in the sheets of his bed. She, herself, did not know who she was. Nox also knew the Queen would not rest until she had found and destroyed her. Whether they thought the princess was a myth or not, all of Aramis prayed the Queen would never find her. Nox watched the castle to make sure she never did. The angrier the Wraith Queen was, the safer the princess was. A chill went down his spine as the Queen stepped out onto a balcony...and laughed.


	6. A Land of Fae

_Chapter 6_

He was in the middle of a forest, and as dark as it was he could sense that he was still no where near Hogwarts. He tightened his grip on his wand as the only sign of anger that he would show, in case someone was somehow watching him. For a man who was so eager to get back what Bellatrix had stolen from him, the idiot had terrible timing. Now, not only did he have no idea where he was- in time or space- he had also lost an opportunity to take the key from Bellatrix. Why was he brought here rather than left in Diagon Alley?

Severus stilled as the sound of laughter reached his ears. When he listened more closely, he could also make out snippets of conversation. Suddenly, a light flared to life in the distance. He could make out the flickering of a small fire between the trees. He crept closer, silent as a ghost, until he found himself at the edge of a clearing.

"How long do you think it will take them to notice we're missing?" A girl asks, poking a small campfire with a long branch. She was facing away from him, so he couldn't make out much more than her long brown hair. The girl sitting across from her had a soft, innocent looking face and blonde pigtails, but Severus could tell that she was older than she appeared to be. The third figure, the one facing him, was male. He had shoulder length dark brown hair, sharper features, and blue eyes that seemed to glint like ice under the flickering light of the fire. Severus didn't recognize them as students from Hogwarts.

"Hopefully not before sunrise. It would put a damper on our camping trip." The male answered, glancing up at the night sky for a moment. It was a clear night, and thousands of stars were visible from their position.

"It doesn't matter. It's Asarov's fault we snuck out. We wouldn't have had to if he had agreed to let us up on the roof to watch the meteor shower tonight." The blonde countered.

"I've never seen one." The brunette admits.

"You're twenty-three years old and have never seen a meteor shower? They happen at least twice a year!" The male points out in surprise.

She shrugged. "Zoey always told me it was safer if I didn't watch them."

"Safer? What does that mean? Is she afraid one will fall from the sky and strike you down?" The male asks, flashing her a smile to ease the sting of his words.

"I don't know. She would never give me a straight answer. I can't wait until it starts, though." She leaned back on her elbows and tilted her head up towards the sky. Her hair fell back and Severus' eyes widened as he caught sight of her pointed ears. His gaze darted towards the blonde and the male. He hadn't noticed it before, but all three of them had pointed ears.

A twig snapped beneath his feet as he took a step back. The male froze, looking in his direction. "I can see you. You'd might as well come out."

Severus kept his wand clasped tightly in his hand, as his mind raced in an attempt to recall a type of humanoid creature with pointed ears. Nothing came to mind that would explain what they were.

"What are you going to do? Throw a stick at us?" The blonde mocked, glancing at his wand.

"A stick?" Severus repeated, lifting an eyebrow at them. Surely they knew what a wand was.

"Did Zoey or Asarov send you after us?" The male asks, folding his arms across his chest defensively.

"No," Severus answered after a moment. If they weren't hostile, perhaps he could get some answers out of them. "Where are we?"

"You're not from around here are you?" The blonde asks, studying him."What are you wearing?"

"If I were from here, do you think I would need to ask where here was?" Severus countered.

"A forest near Quinlan." The male answered. "My name is Nox. Who are you?"

"I have never heard of such a place." Severus says, ignoring his question. He still had no clue where he was.

"Everyone has heard of Quinlan. It is one of the larger territories of Aramis." The brunette frowns at him.

"Aramis?"

"The land of Fae."

Before he could reply, the ringing started and his vision blurred again. This form of travel was starting to weigh on his nerves.


End file.
